Tip of the day: Keep downloads off your desktop

Last year, I explained my strategy for keeping downloaded programs organized.

It’s terribly convenient to download programs directly to the desktop. The trouble is, it’s also terribly convenient to leave them there, and after a few months the desktop is littered with inscrutable shortcuts. Today, I’ll explain how you can use the desktop as a temporary holding area for downloads without turning it into a cluttered mess.

To start, follow the first step I recommended in Get your downloaded programs organized and create a Downloads folder in your My Documents folder (or, if you want downloads to be available to other computers on your network, create a Downloads folder in your Shared Documents folder).

Next, right-click the icon for the Downloads folder and choose Copy. Go to the desktop (knowing one of these shortcuts makes this task much easier), right-click any empty space, and choose Paste Shortcut from the shortcut menu.

You’ve now got a Downloads shortcut on your desktop. As a shortcut, it works exactly like the original folder. When you drag a file or folder onto that icon, it’s moved or copied to the Downloads folder instantly. Here’s how to use this shortcut to keep clutter under control:

• Every time you download a new program, patch, or utility, go ahead and save it to the desktop.
• Create a shortcut to the Web page for that download, too. From IE6 or IE7, right-click the page and choose Create Shortcut to instantly create a shortcut on the desktop. Firefox users can drag the page icon at the left of the Address bar and drop it on the desktop, or use the deskCut extension.
• If you received a serial number or product key with your download, save that information as a text file on the desktop as well.

All the pieces of your download are now on the desktop. If you’re comfortable with using your Downloads folder as a shoebox, select the files and drag them onto the Downloads shortcut. If you’d rather be more organized, create a folder on the desktop first (right-click any empty space and choose New, Folder) and give it a descriptive name that makes it easy to find your download. Now drag the files from your desktop onto that folder and then drag the folder onto the Downloads icon.